With Guyana scheduled to depart local shores on Monday for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Pre-Qualifiers in San Salvador, El Salvador, head-coach of the senior men’s team Junior Hercules, has disclosed that the players have commenced daily training sessions to focus on building team chemistry.
This was stated during a brief interview with Stabroek Sport yesterday and according to Hercules, “It’s scheduled to be from 6pm to 8pm daily and on Saturday there will be a double session. Our rest days are Friday and Sunday because we are travelling on Monday.” He noted that the remaining days for training are vital due to the recent influx of foreign-based players to the final as well as the likelihood of little or no time for preparation in the Central American nation.
Hercules further explained, “In terms of our training structure, the focus right now is on chemistry and allowing players to understand each other. Their level of chemistry is being worked on and in addition to that, ensuring that we remain active since our actual tournament days or scheduled tournament games don’t provide for breaks. We have back to back games, that’s a change from before as opposed to a break between games.”
“I think from an offensive standpoint we are ok, if anything we are to improve on or need of improvement, will be our ability to trust each other which plays back to the chemistry,” he added.
Regional giant Jamaica has been added to the tournament by the FIBA regional office. This was disclosed on Saturday by the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) at the official announcement of the management and playing squad.
Guyana’s 12-member roster which is led by Stanton Rose, comprises siblings Delroy and Gordon James, Deylon Anthony, Anthony Moe, Travis Belgrave, Timothy Thompson, Harold Adams, Yonnick Tappin, Terron Welsh, Israel Yaw, and Nicholai Smith.
The Guyanese will commence their campaign on April 15 against Nicaragua starting 21:00hrs. This will be followed by a meeting with recent entrant Jamaica on April 16 at 18:00hrs. On April 17, the Guyanese will oppose El Salvador from 21:00hrs, with their final group match occurring against Costa Rica from 21:00hrs one day later.
All matches will be hosted at the José Adolfo Pineda National Gymnasium. The first round of qualifiers will be conducted utilising a group format, with the top three finishers progressing to the second round of qualifiers slated for July 2021.
According to the GABF, all of the aforesaid encounters will be aired by local provider E-Networks on their E1 channel. The Guyana Men’s Senior Basketball Program is slated to arrive in the Central American nation on April 12. They are scheduled to depart seven days later.
